Rachel Blanchard Bio and Pics

Bio

A native of Toronto, Canada, prodigiously blond actress Rachel Blanchard first became known to audiences with her role as Cher, the protagonist of the 1996 TV spin-off of Clueless. Blanchard, who had acted in a number of Canadian TV series prior to Clueless, crossed over to film in the 1992 Italian coming-of-age drama On My Own. More high profile work came her way in 1999, when she starred as one of the loathsome teens who have the misfortune of tormenting the supernaturally-endowed protagonist in The Rage: Carrie 2. The following year, Blanchard could be seen in the teen road comedy Road Trip, which cast her as the girlfriend of Breckin Meyer; she also starred in Sugar and Spice, a controversial black comedy about a group of cheerleaders who band together to support their friend's unborn baby by planning a heist to ensure the baby's financial future.

Taken at the Road Trip opening night premire

"Another Pic froming Road Trips premire"

"Nice Rachel Pic"

You've heard of actors "phoning in" a part. Well, TV's new Cher--as in Clueless, not "Sonny and..."--literally did her audition that way.

Well, almost. Newcomer Rachel Blanchard was just another 20-year-old Canadian from a quiet neighborhood in Toronto--a sophomore at Queens University--passing the summer lounging at her folks' cottage in northern Ontario, when her agent heard about a new sitcom Paramount was in the process of casting.

Blanchard had never been to California--to her, "West Coast" meant British Columbia. But she had acted before--she first hit the boards in local theater productions at the age of seven and is a vet of Canadian films and TV shows.

But that was it. Clueless was a long shot--and she didn't have the resources to make the trip to audition live.

Even worse, though she knew the show was to be based on a hit film, having spent the previous summer backpacking across Europe, she was pretty clueless about the show's namesake.

So she studied scene and character breakdown sheets and turned on the home camcorder. With a copy of the script, and a pal playing best friend Dionne, she read the role of Cher, the quintessential Bronson Alcott (read: Beverly Hills) High material girl.

Fortunately, having attended a private girls' school in Toronto for several years, Blanchard had a pretty good idea of how cliques-with-an-attitude work.

Off went the tape to Los Angeles--and back came an invitation for Blanchard to come on down and audition in person (as in, expenses paid).

"Everyone told me L.A. is really laid back," she says of her first trip to Hollywood, "but it seems pretty fast-paced to me. I think Toronto's more settled."

She was surprised by the number of cars ("lots and lots") and pedestrians ("hardly any"). But she admits she has not yet seen all of Los Angeles. "Mostly just Paramount Studios, where I auditioned and we shot the pilot, and Sunset Boulevard," she says.

Then it was back to Canada and the family cottage--nurse mom, economist dad, brother and sister. Indeed, the outdoorsy Blanchard was alfresco when the Big Call came telling her she got the part. She was told to report to work in a few weeks, leaving her little time for her favorite things: hockey, camping and mountain biking. (The bike is coming to L.A., though beloved dog Gypsy must stay behind.) Mostly, Blanchard recalls, she spent the rest of the summer thinking about adjusting to life in L.A.

Just playing Cher, the part that landed Alicia Silverstone a multimillion-dollar studio deal, should provide Blanchard a crash course in L.A. style of a certain, somewhat extreme, sort.

Named for the great singer of the '70s, Cher is a sun-streaked, designer-clad, cel-phone and beeper-toting teenager with perpetually pastel-colored fingernails--the stereotype much of America sees when you say "L.A."

She's also the creation of writer-director Amy Heckerling (Fast Times at Ridgemont High, ) who wrote and directed the movie. For the ABC series, which debuts September 20, Heckerling has brought back a number of the film's principal players--Stacey Dash (Dionne), Elisa Donovan (Amber), Donald Adeosun Faison (Murray) and Twink Caplan and Wallace Shawn (beleaguered teachers)--to reprise their roles.

She added Michael Lerner as Cher's overworked single Daddy and David Lascher) Blossom, White Squall as her "non-stepbrother."

"Rachel won the role because of her innocence, optimism, wit and charm," Heckerling says.

"These are all qualities the character possesses, so it's important that our lead actress possess them as well. Rachel is a wonderful Cher." But only if she acts wonderfully.

"Ninety-nine percent of Cher isn't me," Blanchard cautions, "which is what's going to make her so much fun to play. I appreciate much simpler things, and I'm not a big shopper. You know, boys and clothes--that's not really my style."

Though "definitely good-hearted," Blanchard admits Cher thinks she's "really hot stuff and that every problem can be solved with money."

Pure Beverly Hills? Not really, she says. Cher "could exist anywhere. Though, if she lived in Toronto, she'd have to shop in different malls."

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